2012/03/21: MSNBC: Damage to world’s oceans could hit $2 trillion a year, experts sayThe cost of damage to the world’s oceans from climate change could reach $2 trillion a year by 2100 if measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions are not stepped up, a study by marine experts said Wednesday. The study found that without action to limit rising greenhouse gas emissions, the global average temperature could rise by 4 degrees Celsius (about 7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century causing ocean acidification, sea level rise, marine pollution, species migration and more intense tropical cyclones. It would also threaten coral reefs, disrupt fisheries and deplete fish stocks. In the study, “Valuing the Ocean,” marine experts led by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzed the most severe threats facing the world’s marine environment and estimated the cost of damage from global warming.

2012/03/24: SkeptiSci: Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online by John CookSometime over the last few days, the Skeptical Science website has been hacked. The hacker has taken much or all of the Skeptical Science database, zipped various excerpts into a single file, uploaded the file onto a Russian website then linked to the zip file from various blogs. While we are still attempting to verify the authenticity of the file, initial scans seem to indicate the hacker has included the entire database of Skeptical Science users. Access to the full database (which includes private details) is restricted only to myself and I am the only one with access to all of the raw data – this fact alone indicates that this breach of privacy came in the form of an external hack rather than from within Skeptical Science itself.

2012/03/21: BBC: Valuing nature, changing economicsThe concept of natural capital accounting – valuing natural resources as accurately as possible, and including in national accounts the costs and benefits of conserving vs destroying them – has emerged as a major theme in international environmental circles in recent years.

2012/03/24: SkeptiSci: Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online by John CookSometime over the last few days, the Skeptical Science website has been hacked. The hacker has taken much or all of the Skeptical Science database, zipped various excerpts into a single file, uploaded the file onto a Russian website then linked to the zip file from various blogs. While we are still attempting to verify the authenticity of the file, initial scans seem to indicate the hacker has included the entire database of Skeptical Science users. Access to the full database (which includes private details) is restricted only to myself and I am the only one with access to all of the raw data – this fact alone indicates that this breach of privacy came in the form of an external hack rather than from within Skeptical Science itself.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We’ll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.Meanwhile…It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of new information.How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?Do they have an agenda?Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?Do they want to write a good news story?Do they want to write a bad news story?Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?One fundamental question I would like to see answered:If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

2012/03/20: ERW: Insight: shrub height affects future Arctic climate and permafrostThe boreal trees and shrubs that are already invading the tundra regions of the north are expected to expand their territory even further as climate-change progresses. A study recently published in Environmental Research Letters indicates that invading shrubs will increasingly warm the northern high latitudes at a rate that depends on the height of the plants.

2012/03/19: Eureka: 1 solution to global overfishing foundLargest study of tropical coral reef fisheries ever conducted shows how government, local fishers, and organizations can protect livelihoods and fish A study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and other groups on more than 40 coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans indicates that “co-management” — a collaborative arrangement between local communities, conservation groups, and governments — provides one solution to a vexing global problem: overfishing.

2012/03/23: PlanetArk: GMO Drought-Tolerant Corn Over-Promises: Plant ScientistUtilizing biotech “drought-tolerant” corn to boost global food production would be a less-effective tactic than planting conventional corn and improving agronomic practices, a veteran plant scientist said on Tuesday. “The technology has gotten a tremendous amount of attention. We think undue attention,” said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a plant pathologist and senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in an interview at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit.

2012/03/21: ABC(Au): Australian PlantBank to safeguard diversityThe largest seed bank in the southern hemisphere is being constructed in Sydney’s south-west to help prevent a loss to the planet’s diversity of flora. Scientists are collecting and housing a range of plants and seeds to fill Mt Annan’s PlantBank, which is being built under the management of the Australian Botanic Gardens. It will eventually house up to 25,000 plant species not only from Australia, but from across the Asia-Pacific. Project manager Brett Summerell says the PlantBank will be a form of “ultimate insurance”.

2012/03/19: BBC: Update for world temperature dataResearchers have updated HadCRUT – one of the main global temperate records, which dates back to 1850. One of the main changes is the inclusion of more data from the Arctic region, which has experienced one of the greatest levels of warming. The amendments do not change the long-term trend, but the data now lists 2010, rather than 1998, as the warmest year on record.

2012/03/24: BBC: ‘Humans killed off Australia’s giant beasts’Humans hunted Australia’s giant vertebrates to extinction about 40,000 years ago, the latest research published in Science has concluded. The cause of the widespread extinction has provoked much debate, with climate change being one theory. However, scientists studied dung samples from 130,000 and 41,000 years ago, when humans arrived, and concluded hunting and fire were the cause. The extinction in turn caused major ecological changes to the landscape.

2012/03/18: Eureka: Hazy shades of life on early EarthA ‘see-sawing’ atmosphere over 2.5 billion years ago preceded the oxygenation of our planet and the development of complex life on Earth, a new study has shown. Research, led by experts at Newcastle University, UK, and published today in the journal Nature Geoscience, reveals that the Earth’s early atmosphere periodically flipped from a hydrocarbon-free state into a hydrocarbon-rich state similar to that of Saturn’s moon, Titan. This switch between “organic haze” and a “haze-free” environment was the result of intense microbial activity and would have had a profound effect on the climate of the Earth system.

2012/03/23: BBC: Mammoths’ extinction not due to inbreeding, study findsThe last known population of woolly mammoths did not “inevitably” die out because of inbreeding and lack of genetic diversity, a study suggests. Scientists used techniques normally used to tackle crime scenes to carry out DNA analysis of samples taken from Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean. They said that it was more likely that human activity or environmental factors killed off the healthy creatures.

2012/03/20: BBC: Illegal logging makes billions for gangs, report saysIllegal logging generates $10-15bn (£7.5-11bn) around the world, according to new analysis from the World Bank. Its report, Justice for Forests, says that most illegal logging operations are run by organised crime, and much of the profit goes to corrupt officials. Countries affected include Indonesia, Madagascar and several in West Africa.

2012/03/22: ABC(Au): Evacuations after flash flooding in southern QldEmergency services on the Sunshine Coast in south-east Queensland have received almost 550 calls for help after heavy rain caused flash flooding. Evacuations are underway after up to 250 millimetres of rain fell in some parts of the coast in just three hours on Thursday afternoon, inundating homes and businesses.

2012/03/20: BBC: Coal-fuelled power station plans for GrangemouthA US power company is planning to build a coal-fuelled power station at Grangemouth, BBC Scotland has learned. The plant would use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in a bid to reduce emissions by more than 90%. Seattle-based Summit Power Group has joined forces with National Grid PLC and the oil services company Petrofac for the project. The scheme’s backers hope to win funding for the Caledonia Clean Energy Project from the UK government.

2012/03/23: ERW: White roofs are more coolPolicymakers should phase out the use of black asphalt on roofs in hot climates. That’s according to researchers in the US who have analysed different roofing membranes for their effectiveness at reducing the urban heat island effect.

2012/03/21: IUCN: Nature in need: Half of world’s most important nature sites left unprotectedThe world’s governments have committed to increasing the coverage of protected areas by 2020 to address rapid rates of environmental destruction, however, a new study led by BirdLife International, with contributions from IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), shows that only half of the most important sites for wildlife have been fully protected. These findings highlight an urgent need for improved targeting of new and expanded protected areas in order to protect the planet’s wildlife.

2012/03/25: ABC(Au): GE chairman praises ‘gutsy’ carbon taxA top executive at one of the world’s largest companies has praised the Australian Government for introducing a carbon tax. GE’s vice-chairman John Rice says there needs to be a cost associated with producing carbon, whether it is through a tax or a type of trading mechanism. GE makes a range of products, including wind turbines. He has told ABC TV’s Inside Business it is not easy for governments to introduce such measures. But he says it takes “gutsy politicians” to take the lead on introducing such costs.

2012/03/23: IndiaTimes: Iran oil sanctions: India tells West to appreciate its needsIndia will continue to import oil from Iran without violating any international law and has requested the United States and the European Union to take into account the country’s oil needs, oil minister Jaipal Reddy said on Friday. “We have a systematic plan for receiving oil from Iran,” Reddy told reporters at the Asia Gas Partnership Summit, but did not elaborate.

2012/03/23: Reuters: Iran sanctions bring unintended, unwanted resultsWestern sanctions have so far failed to deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear programme and their unexpected and unintended side-effects are producing a new collection of challenges. The expected loss of Iranian crude production has helped push oil prices to levels seen threatening the global economy. Already Iran’s oil exports appear to have fallen this month by some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 14 percent, the first sizeable drop in shipments this year, according to estimates from industry consultant Petrologistics and an oil company. Oil rose sharply on the news, with Brent jumping to over $127 a barrel, up almost $4 from the day’s low.

2012/03/23: EurActiv: Boeing, Airbus team up on EU carbon charge, biofuelsBoeing threw its weight behind Airbus in a dispute over European Union airline emissions on Thursday (22 March), announcing at the same time an agreement to develop and commercialise sustainable biofuels for use in airplanes. The chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes joined a chorus of criticism of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme that will charge airlines for emissions, something Brussels believes necessary to help defeat climate change.

2012/03/23: BBC: India boycotts EU aviation carbon chargeIndian airlines will not comply with the European Union’s (EU) carbon charging scheme, according to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh. The EU has directed Indian carriers to submit the emissions details of their aircraft by 31 March.

2012/03/21: BBC: US imposes solar duties on China because of subsidiesThe US has imposed duties on Chinese solar panel manufacturers after it said that they received unfair subsidies. Chinese exporters into the US – including Suntech – will now face customs tariffs of between 2.9% and 4.73%, the Commerce Department said. In 2011, imports of solar cells from China into the US were valued at $3.1bn (£1.96bn), it added. The price of solar panels dropped more than 30% last year, mainly linked to cheaper panels made in China.

Europe might get in on the act too:

2012/03/21: EurActiv: EU mulls ‘green lawsuits’ against ChinaMassive state subsidies are “squeezing out” European wind and solar companies from China’s renewables market, the head of EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht’s cabinet has said, adding that court action should be considered against barriers to trade.

2012/03/22: SeattlePI: US intel: water a cause for war in coming decadesDrought, floods and a lack of fresh water may cause significant global instability and conflict in the coming decades, as developing countries scramble to meet demand from exploding populations while dealing with the effects of climate change, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report Thursday.

2012/03/20: AutoBG: Bob Lutz gives up trying to convince the right they’re wrong about the Chevy VoltBob Lutz has learned something: you can’t teach right-wing pundits the truth.Yes, in his ongoing series of Chevrolet Volt defense columns for Forbes (see previous entries here and here), the former GM vice chairman has finally decided to throw in the towel. The short version of his awakening goes like this: “I am, sadly, coming to the conclusion that all the icons of conservatism are (shock, horror!) deliberately not telling the truth!”

2012/03/21: HuffPo: U.S. Oil Drilling May Not Improve Gas Prices, Study SaysIt’s the political cure-all for high gas prices: Drill here, drill now. But more U.S. drilling has not changed how deeply the gas pump drills into your wallet, math and history show. A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.

2012/03/22: TheHill:e2W: EPA chief: No date yet for power plant carbon rulesIs the environmental Protection Agency’s schedule for proposing power plant greenhouse gas standards slipping yet again? It depends on your definition of “early.” The agency has for months said the rules — which the White House is currently vetting — would be proposed “early” in 2012 after missing several earlier deadlines. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Thursday told reporters that there’s no date yet for proposing the regulations, which would set first-time standards for new and modified power plants that run on coal, oil and natural gas.

2012/03/22: PlanetArk: Britain Mulls Replacing Corporate CO2 SchemeThe UK government will consider replacing a scheme to cut corporate energy use with an alternative environmental tax if it cannot reduce the scheme’s administrative costs, finance minister George Osborne said in his budget statement on Wednesday. The so-called Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) was devised under the previous Labour government. The mandatory energy efficiency scheme forces businesses like banks, hotels, hospitals and schools to help cut Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tonnes and corporate energy bills by 1 billion pounds a year by 2020.

2012/03/19: Guardian(UK): Slashing of environment ‘red tape’ is far from overAlmost three-quarters of green regulation is affected by the cuts confirmed on Monday, but work is underway on a further ‘significant rationalisation of guidance’ And lo, Oliver Letwin’s scythe swept through the “red tape” of environmental regulations. As I revealed on Friday, 73% of the 255 rules protecting the nation’s land, air and water, and all that lives there, are affected.

2012/03/18: BBC: Just 2% believe coalition is ‘greenest government’, survey suggestsJust 2% of the UK public believe they live under the “greenest government ever”, according to an opinion poll. And only 4% want to see laws protecting the countryside weakened, as the government is expected to do this week. Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to lead the “greenest government ever” on taking office in 2010. Critics say that recent decisions on climate change, forests, badger culling, urban pollution and nature protection have undermined the claim.

2012/03/20: EurActiv: Europe’s chief scientist warns against climate delaysThe EU cannot use the economic slowdown as an excuse to delay action on fighting climate change, the bloc’s first-ever chief scientific advisor has warned. Molecular biologist Anne Glover took on the newly created role reporting to the European Commission’s President José Manuel Barroso at the start of this year, having previously served as chief scientific advisor to Scotland’s devolved government.

2012/03/20: EurActiv: EU climate broker: World faces 4 degrees of warmingThe world is on track for around four degrees Celsius of global warming under current carbon emissions trends, says the EU’s chief climate negotiator, a trajectory that some scientists say risks a planetary mass extinction event. “When you look at the global emissions, with the current pledges which are on the table … we are probably heading towards 3.8 or 4.2 degrees [warming],” said Artur Runge-Metzger, speaking at a roundtable hosted in Brussels by the Institut français des relations internationales on 14 March.

2012/03/19: BBerg: Germany’s $263 Billion Renewables Shift Biggest Since WarNot since the allies leveled Germany in World War II has Europe’s biggest economy undertaken a reconstruction of its energy market on this scale. Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to build offshore wind farms that will cover an area six times the size of New York City and erect power lines that could stretch from London to Baghdad. The program will cost 200 billion euros ($263 billion), about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2011, according to the DIW economic institute in Berlin.

2012/03/23: ABC(Au): Greens celebrate 40 years of movementAbout 300 people have turned out to a function in Hobart to celebrate the birth of the Green political movement 40 years ago. Australian Greens leader Bob Brown was given a standing ovation as he addressed the crowd of party members and supporters.

2012/03/22: ABC(Au): [WA] Government denies secrecy on water privatisationThe State Government says it is no secret that some water services have been outsourced. The State Opposition today suspended standing orders to propose a motion condemning the Government for not informing the parliament or the general public about the privatisation, but the motion was defeated.

2012/03/21: ABC(Au): Stoush erupts over brown coal exportsA row has broken out between the federal Greens and federal Labor over a Victorian plan to export more Latrobe Valley brown coal. The Victorian Government has announced it will offer new brown coal resources from the Latrobe Valley for tender.

2012/03/20: ABC(Au): Tax challenge may see states lose mining profitsConstitutional law experts are warning the states run the risk of losing their ownership of mineral rights to the Commonwealth in any legal challenge to the mining tax. Fortescue Metals says it will challenge the constitutional validity of the Federal Government’s minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) in the High Court after the legislation passed the Senate on Monday night. West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says his Government will back any challenge that is mounted.

2012/03/19: ABC(Au): Mining tax laws pass SenateThe Federal Government’s mining tax legislation has passed the Senate and will soon become law. The tax gives the Federal Government an estimated $10 billion war chest to win over small- and medium-sized businesses before the next election.

2012/03/19: ABC(Au): Senate clears Greens over political donationA Senate inquiry has found no evidence to support allegations that Greens senators Bob Brown and Christine Milne acted inappropriately in relation to a political donor. The Opposition accused the two senators of advocating for businessman Graham Wood after accepting a $1.6 million donation from the founder of travel website Wotif.

2012/03/24: ABC(Au): LNP sweeps to power in landslide victoryThe Liberal National Party and premier-elect Campbell Newman have swept to power in Queensland, dealing Labor an astonishing and demoralising election defeat. Labor’s 14-year reign was over soon after polling booths closed, with a massive swing seeing the LNP projected to hold as many as 78 seats to as little as 7 for Anna Bligh’s ALP.

2012/03/21: ABC(Au): CIA hits back at Palmer conspiracy claimsThe CIA has denied mining magnate Clive Palmer’s claims that it is funding a campaign to attack the Australian coal industry. The Federal Government sought to bracket the Coalition with Mr Palmer during another testy session of Question Time, while Queensland’s LNP leader Campbell Newman said the donor’s conspiracy theory had nothing to do with him. The billionaire yesterday alleged that a Greenpeace plan to launch legal action against future coal mining projects was funded by the CIA with the aim of harming Australian industry and helping American interests. He also targeted the Greens, claiming they were “tools” of the United States government.

2012/03/20: ABC(Au): Palmer says green groups funded by CIAMining magnate Clive Palmer has accused the United States government of funding environmental group Greenpeace via the CIA to undermine Australia’s coal mining sector. Mr Palmer made the extraordinary claim over Greenpeace’s plan to use the court system to tie up coal mining applications. He is angry at Greenpeace’s plan to use lawyers to thwart future coal mining projects and claims funding is coming from US environmental charity the Rockefeller Foundation. He alleges it is funded by the CIA and says it is trying to harm Australia’s industry and help American interests.

2012/03/23: al Jazeera: India’s coal rushThe country’s dependence on coal is leaving a dirty trail of violence, landlessness and poverty. India is hungry for energy. Over 173 power plants, all of them coal-fired, will be built to power the nation’s high-tech industries and booming cities.

2012/03/22: BBC: Outrage over report that India lost $210bn in coal scam[The Gevra coal mine in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world] There was outrage in India’s parliament after a draft report by government auditors estimated India lost $210bn by selling coalfields too cheaply. Opposition politicians accused the government of “looting the country” by selling coalfields to companies without competitive bidding. Private and state companies benefited from the allocations between 2004 and 2010, says a Times of India report. But the auditor says the leaked draft is “exceedingly misleading”.

2012/03/20: Reuters: Work restarts at Indian nuclear plant, protesters arrestedPolice clear protest site, workers return – Government wants to increase nuclear generation Work to start up a large nuclear power plant on the southern tip on India resumed on Tuesday after police arrested dozens of protesters who had blocked access to the site for months, in a breakthrough for the power-short emerging economy. The Kudankulam project will initially provide 2 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power 20 million Indian homes.

2012/03/24: PostMedia: Short-changing the ArcticThe Tories have talked a good game about Canada being an Arctic country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper never misses a chance to tag along with the military during Operation Nanook, an annual military exercise in the Far North. Our leaders get touchy when Moscow or Copenhagen calls into question our sovereignty over northern waters. We fret about Russian bombers and American submarines going where they aren’t wanted. And so, in the spirit of projecting Canada’s power northward, way back in the long-ago era of 2007, the Tories promised a major naval base in the Arctic. And then we didn’t hear much about it. Until now. Turns out the “major” northern naval base will consist of a few trailers and a guy with a satellite phone. And not all the time, of course. Just in the summer.

2012/03/24: G&M: First majority budget will reveal Harper unleashedStephen Harper’s plan to transform Canada is about to take shape. After years of having his hands tied by minority Parliaments, Thursday’s budget marks the first one written by the Harper Conservatives with the freedom of a majority. There is no fear of a snap election. The government can take risks. Be controversial. Think long-term. As the Prime Minister’s landmark speech two months ago in Davos made clear, he plans to do all three. This budget won’t just cover the next four years. Mr. Harper says he wants to make an impact that lasts for generations.

2012/03/24: PostMedia: Canada’s ‘pearl’ of Arctic research hit with funding freeze[…]Federal grants that have kept the station running continuously since 2005 have run out, forcing the science team that runs PEARL to shut it down, at least temporarily. With no money for salaries, the station’s three operators were let go in December. And on April 5, the two researchers now at the station collecting one last batch of atmospheric data will turn off the lights.

2012/03/19: PostMedia: Scientists speak out against proposed Fisheries Act changesScientists are calling on the Harper government to scrap plans to weaken the federal Fisheries Act, saying it will “severely impair” Canada’s ability to protect biodiversity and species at risk. They also want Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield to come clean about what scientists inside his own department think of the proposed changes. “In the interests of transparency and accountability, and in the interests of Canadian society, we respectfully request that the science advice received in this regard be made publicly available without delay,” Jeffrey Hutchings, president of the Canadian Society For Ecology and Evolution, says in a letter sent to Ashfield on Monday. The group, representing 1,000 ecologists and evolutionary biologists across Canada, joins a growing chorus calling on the federal government to abandon plans to weaken the Fisheries Act.

2012/03/20: WpgFP: Winnipeg’s Richardson grows with Viterra dealThe empire of Winnipeg’s Richardson family is growing. Again. It was announced this morning that Richardson International Ltd. has agreed to purchase more than $900 million worth of assets belonging to Viterra, including grain handling, crop input and processing facilities and related working capital. The acquisition includes 19 country elevators, which will complement the Richardson Pioneer network of grain elevators and crop input centres across Western Canada, as well as a 25 per cent stake in Vancouver’s Cascadia Terminal and a Viterra terminal in Thunder Bay. Richardson will also purchase the Can-Oat Milling business with oat processing plants in Portage la Prairie, Martensville, Sask., and Barrhead, Alta.,, as well as 21st Century Grain Processing, which has an oat processing plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska and a wheat mill in Dawn, Texas. The Richardson deal is concurrent with [Switzerland’s] Glencore International PLC’s acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Viterra.

2012/03/19: PostMedia: Coyne: Caterwauling over pending sale of Viterra predictable and meaninglessA week ago, before the company let it be known it was putting itself up for sale, shares in Regina-based Viterra, Canada’s largest grain handler, were trading hands for $11. By Friday the shares were selling for $16, and by the time the terms of the deal the company says it is negotiating are revealed, the price could be higher yet. Even a $16 offer, however, would value the company at $6 billion, meaning Viterra’s shareholders, most of them Canadian, would be taking home a premium of close to $2-billion. Viterra hasn’t said whom it’s negotiating with, but the betting line is it’s a consortium of Swiss-based Glencore, the world’s largest grain company, Calgary-based fertilizer distributor Agrium, and Winnipeg’s Richardson family.

2012/03/23: CCurrents: Heal The Planet!If Mother Earth were a patient in the hands of a good doctor what would the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis look like? Can the planet be cured of its ills at all and what would it take to achieve this? Is there an alternative to the path of willful suicide forced on all life forms on the globe by the blind greed and inhumanity of a few?

2012/03/24: BBC: Metal thieves ‘threaten Scottish heritage’Metal theft could be causing “irreparable” damage to Scotland’s heritage – as well as costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds, a BBC Scotland investigation has found. A survey of all 32 Scottish councils showed the total cost of repairing damage caused by metal thieves across the country has reached some £600,000.

2012/03/19: BBerg: Germany’s $263 Billion Renewables Shift Biggest Since WarNot since the allies leveled Germany in World War II has Europe’s biggest economy undertaken a reconstruction of its energy market on this scale. Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to build offshore wind farms that will cover an area six times the size of New York City and erect power lines that could stretch from London to Baghdad. The program will cost 200 billion euros ($263 billion), about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2011, according to the DIW economic institute in Berlin.

2012/03/18: TPR: Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags PhysiciansA new Pennsylvania law endangers public health by forbidding health care professionals from sharing information they learn about certain chemicals and procedures used in high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing. The procedure is commonly known as fracking.

2012/03/19: BBC: Energy giants Statoil and Exxon target East African gasThe balmy waters of the Indian Ocean, close to East Africa, are a long way from the cold and notoriously stormy North Sea, but Tanzania could soon be profitable territory for Statoil of Norway. Statoil and its American partner Exxon Mobil have made the biggest offshore discovery yet of gas reserves off the coast of Tanzania.

2012/03/18: VoxEU: Shock ‘n’ oil by Marco AnnunziataOil prices are again on the rise — will this derail the economic recovery? And what if there is an oil shock on the horizon? This column presents an overview of the oil market and its possible effects on the global economy. It argues that if there is a shock, the list of casualties will have Europe at the top with the US close behind.

2012/03/23: Reuters: Two major U.S. oil cos interested in TAPI pipelineTwo major U.S. oil companies are interested in a four-country pipeline that would ship gas worth billions of dollars from Turkmenistan to India and Pakistan, a U.S. government official said on Friday. The building of the U.S.-backed “TAPI” pipeline through some of Afghanistan’s most volatile regions presents a major challenge, adding to the project’s other hurdles such as gas pricing and transit fees.

2012/03/21: BBerg: Solar’s 80% Plunge Hurts Utilities From Hawaii to SpainOn grassy pasture in western Spain, Fotowatio SL is preparing to build a solar plant to supply electricity 25 percent cheaper than a local utility charges for traditional power, a breakthrough that’s sending tremors through the global energy industry.[…]Solar panels costs have tumbled 80 percent in the past five years. A technology that in the 1970s was so expensive it only made economic sense for satellites and offshore drilling rigs is today a $100 billion industry that’s transforming the world’s power supply in the same way semiconductor efficiencies put personal computers everywhere, changing the way information flows.

2012/03/21: WNN: Postponing retirement in SpainCapitalising on a more positive political outlook, Spain’s nuclear industry group has made the case for longer operating lives for the country’s reactors based on commercial and safety imperatives.

2012/03/20: NYT: As Reactors Age, the Money to Close Them LagsThe operators of 20 of the nation’s aging nuclear reactors, including some whose licenses expire soon, have not saved nearly enough money for prompt and proper dismantling. If it turns out that they must close, the owners intend to let them sit like industrial relics for 20 to 60 years or even longer while interest accrues in the reactors’ retirement accounts. Decommissioning a reactor is a painstaking and expensive process that involves taking down huge structures and transporting the radioactive materials to the few sites around the country that can bury them. The cost is projected at $400 million to $1 billion per reactor, which in some cases is more than what it cost to build the plants in the 1960s and ’70s.

2012/03/20: Reuters: Work restarts at Indian nuclear plant, protesters arrestedPolice clear protest site, workers return – Government wants to increase nuclear generation Work to start up a large nuclear power plant on the southern tip on India resumed on Tuesday after police arrested dozens of protesters who had blocked access to the site for months, in a breakthrough for the power-short emerging economy. The Kudankulam project will initially provide 2 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power 20 million Indian homes.

2012/03/20: AutoBG: Bob Lutz gives up trying to convince the right they’re wrong about the Chevy VoltBob Lutz has learned something: you can’t teach right-wing pundits the truth.Yes, in his ongoing series of Chevrolet Volt defense columns for Forbes (see previous entries here and here), the former GM vice chairman has finally decided to throw in the towel. The short version of his awakening goes like this: “I am, sadly, coming to the conclusion that all the icons of conservatism are (shock, horror!) deliberately not telling the truth!”

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

“The ability to sustain change globally across the entire human population over periods far beyond anything ever attempted would appear to push the relevant objectives well beyond the realm of the attainable. If we are ever to cope with climate change in any fundamental way, radical solutions on the social side is where we must focus, though. The relative efficiency of the next generation of solar cells is trivial by comparison.” -Gary Stix